Locking device for toilet seat covers



Aug. 22, 1961 s. LEPTRONE LOCKING DEVICE FOR TOILET SEAT COVERS FiledApril 6, 1959 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Office Patented Aug. 22, 1961 2,996,731LOCKING DEVICE FOR TOIIJET SEAT COVERS Samuel Leptrone, 2291 Gulf to BayBlvd.',

Clearwater, Fla. Filed Apr. 6, 1959', Ser. No. 804,24

3 Claims. (Cl. 4- 253) The present invention relates .to a lockingdevice which may be attached to toilets to prevent raising of the toiletseat cover by a child so young as to be unable to comprehend the properuse of the toilet.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a devicewhich can be readily attached to the conventional pivoted toilet seatcover and front wall of the water tank of a commode and which isoperative to block the cover in its seat covering position untilreleased by the actuation of a key member so that children of such youngage that they are unable to understand the operation of the key cannotopen the cover and gain access to the toilet bowl, which situationfrequently results in such children throwing articles into the bowl orplaying in the water therein which is highly undesirable from a healthand sanitation viewpoint.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a toilet seat coverlocking device of the character described comprising two rigid barmembers arranged end to end and having means to attach the outer endsthereof to the toilet seat cover and the adjacent vertical wall of thewater tank for the toilet respectively, the inner adjacent ends of thebars being pivotally connected to a link at spaced points to provide adouble hinge connection between the bars, and key means to lock the barsand link in a rigid, preferably aligned, position to provide a strut forblocking raising of the seat cover, the key being operative to releasethe bars and link to permit pivotal movement thereof so that the seatcover can be raised, the spaced pivots for the bars on the linkproviding a selfadjusting hinge to accommodate varying positions of thehinge pivot for the seat covers of toilets having different spacing ofthe seat cover hinge and water tank walls.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of thecharacter mentioned which can be attached and detached from the seatcover and water tank of a toilet without altering the construction ofthe toilet so that the device can be readily applied to any of manydifferent toilets and can be removed after the child or children havingaccess to the toilet have become trained to the proper use thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention,reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is aside elevational view of a toilet having a device embodying theinvention attached thereto, a portion of the toilet being shown brokenaway;

FIG. 2 is a view taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1 but on alarger scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the toilet with theseat in the raised position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of a part of the cover locking device asshown in FIG. 2, but on a larger scale; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2, but on a largerscale.

Referring to the drawings, a conventional toilet is shown including abowl 10, a seat 11, a seat cover 12, and a water tank 13. The seat andits cover are attached to a hinge 14 so that they may be raisedindividually beyond a vertical line, as is usual. Cover 12 not onlyoverlies seat 11 but also forms a cover for the open top of the bowl, asis well known.

Thg seat cover locking device comprises two rigid bar members 18 and 19,which may be formed of suitable material, such as aluminum, each havingmeans to attach the outer ends thereof to seat cover '12 and the frontwall 15 of water tank 13. Preferably, these means comprise rubbersuction cups 20 and 21 pivotally attached to bars, 18 and 19, the cupshaving lugs 20a and 21a provided with Openings therethrough whichreceive supporting fingers 18a and 19a respectively, formed by L-shapecutaway portions in the end portions of the respective bars. Suctioncups 20 and 21 are of the well known type, being formed of rubber orlike material and having a circular concave face, such as shown at 21b,which may be pressed to a smooth surface and retained there byatmospheric pressure due to the expulsion of air from the recessed faceby the compression of the cup, as is well known.

The inner ends of bars 18 and 19 are pivotally connected to across-shape rigid link 22, and in the form shown, the link includes neckportions 22a and 22b which extend into notches 18b and 19b formed inbars 18 and 19, respectively, as best seen in FIG. 4. The notched 'endportions of bars 18 and 19 and the neck portions to provide a doublehinge structure. Any other suitable hinge construction detail could beemployed, however.

Means are provided for locking bars 18, 19 and link 22 in an aligned,rigid position for form-ing a strut, and in the form shown, this isaccomplished by a flat slide bolt or key 26 which is somewhat narrowerthan bars 18 and 19, and the upper end of which is provided with anoutturned portion 26a which serves as a handle by which the key can bemoved longitudinally of the bars. Key 26 slides in guides 27, 28 and 29located on bar 18, link 22 and bar 19, respectively, which guides eachcomprise an inverted channel shape metal member having out-turnedflanges 30 which are riveted to the bar 18, link 22 and bar 19,respectively, by rivets 30a. The guide openings are in alignment whenthe bars and link are aligned so that key 26 may be moved therethroughand maintain the bars and link rigidly aligned as shown in FIGS. 1 and2.

Preferably key 26 is automatically moved to its lock-- ing position andfor this purpose a lug 26b having an eye therethrough is formed on key26 near handle 26a but projecting from the opposite side thereof andextending through a longitudinal slot formed in bar 19. A tension spring31 is attached at one end to the eye in lug 26b and the opposite end isattached in an eye formed in a lug 19d attached to the rearward side ofbar 19, as viewed in FIG. 2. Slot 19d is of such length that spring 31may slide key 26 through guides 27 and 28 when the bars 18, 19 and link22 are moved into alignment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; Handle 26aengages guide 29 to limit movement of the key by the spring.

In use, the device is applied to the toilet by securing suction cup 20to seat cover 12 and suction cup 21 to wall 15 of the water tank so thatwhen the cover is in its seat covering position, bars 18, 19 and link 22are in alignment as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Spring 31 then moves key 26downwardly through guides 27, 28 and 29 so that the bars and link arelocked in alignment and form a strut which prevents a young child fromraising the cover.

To open toilet seat cover 12, it is only necessary for a person to placea finger beneath handle 26a and slide key 26 upwardly thereby removingthe key from guides 27 and 28 so that the bars can pivot relative to thelink and permit raising of the seat cover as shown in FIG. 3. Whenfinger 26a is released, spring 31 urges key 26 downwardly, as viewed inFIG. 3, and the lower end of the key abuts link 22 which is now at anangular position relative to the travel of the key and forms a stop forthe key. When seat cover 12 is moved to its lowered position, bars 18,19 and link 22 are once again aligned and spring-31 moves key 26 throughguides 27 and 28 to the locking'position thereby automatically lockingthe bar's'in rigid alignment to block opening of the seat cover;

Link 22 provides a double hinge for bars 18 and 19 which permits lockingdevices of a single design to be used on toilets havingdilfer'enfrelative locations of'the' hinge structure for the toilet seatand cover and the front wall 'of the water tank,'so that one productionmodel will operate on many different makes of toilets.

It-will be appreciated that theprocedure for unlocking the seat coverlock device is sufficiently complicated to forestall operation bychildren so young as to be untrained to the proper use of toilets, butchildren having proper training and understanding can easily operate thedevice.

It will also be apparent that when the need for locking a toilet seatcover against unnecessary opening is passed, the locking device can bereadily removed from the toilet and no evidence of its attachment willremain.

Although but one form of the invention has been described in detail, itWill be understood that other forms, modifications and adaptationsthereof could be made, all falling within the scope of the invention asdefined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1..A toilet seat locking device comprising in combination,-two rigidbars arranged end to end, means on opposite outer ends of said bars fordetachably connecting said outer ends of said bars to the top surface ofa toilet seat cover and a front wall of a watertank of a toilet,'respectively,.a link member intermediate the adjacent ends of saidbars, means pivotally attaching said adjacent'ends of said bars to saidlink at spaced locations, an elongated key member carried by one of saidbars and extending longitudinally thereof, guide means on said bars andsaid link member to guide said keyfor movement longitudinally of saidbars to extend said key from the surface of said one bar over said linkand along the surface of the other of said bars to thereby maintain saidbars and link in alignment, and means to bias said key for saidlongitudinal movement.

2. A toilet seat locking device comprising in combination, two rigidflat bars arranged end to end,means on opposite outer-ends of said barsfor detachably connecting the outer ends of said bars to a top surfaceof a toilet seat cover and a 'front wall of a water tank of a toilet,respectively, a fiat link member intermediate the inner adjacent ends ofsaid bars, means pivotally attaching said adjacent ends of said bars toopposite ends of said link" to substantially space the inner ends ofsaid bars, an elongated key member carried by one'of said bars andextending longitudinally thereof, guide means on said bars andlinkmember" to guide said key for movement longitudinally'of said barsto extend said key from the surface of said one bar over said link andalong the surface of the other of said bars to thereby maintain saidbars and link in alignment, and means to bias said 'key' for saidlongitudinal movement.

3. A toilet seat locking device comprising in combination, two rigidflat bars arranged end to end, means on opposite outer ends of said barsfor detachably con necting the outer ends-of said bars to a top surfaceof a toilet seat cover anda front wall of a water tank of a toilet,respectively, a flat link member intermediate the inner adjacent'ends ofsaid bars, means pivotally attaching said adjacent ends of said'bars toopposite endsof' said linkmembe r, respectively, an elongated key membercarried by one ofsaid-bars and extending longitudinally thereof, meansto guide said key for movement longitudinally of said bars to extendsaid key from the-surface of said one bar over said link and along thesurface of the other of said bars to thereby maintain said bars andlinkin alignment, said-one bar having a longitudinal slot therethrough,said key member having a part projectingthrough said slot,'means to biassaid key for said longitudinal movement and comprising a springextending along the side of said bar opposite said key and attachedto'said part of said key, and a handle on said key to move said key inopposition to said spring and out of 'coextension with said link andother bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED'STATES PATENTS436,691 1 Boone Sept. 16,1890

859,454' Larsson July 9, 1907 1,465,925 Steel Aug. 21, 1923 2,703,407Hei'loch et a1. Mar. 8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 202,213 Germany Oct. 3,1908

